-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- For Connor Hays , nothing said summer more than spending a day at Joyland Amusement Park .

Back in its prime , the Wichita , Kansas , theme park drew families with novelty rides , carnival food and live entertainment . Hays , now 25 , says he visited Joyland at least twice each summer when he was a kid in the 1990s .

After moving back to his hometown earlier this year , Hays wanted to revisit his childhood amusement park . But he could n't . Joyland was no more .

The theme park , which had been operating for 55 years , closed in 2004 . What Hays found instead was a heap of scraps from a forgotten place . With a camera in hand , the web designer walked carefully through the tall fields of grass that now surround much of the abandoned remnants of the theme park .

Within the confines of Joyland , Hays was hit with a rush of memories from his youth . `` My older brother and I would beg my parents to take us , '' Hays said . `` When we got there , we would ride the same three rides over and over again . ''

Those deep feelings of nostalgia associated with places like local , homegrown theme parks are quite common , according to Jim Futrell , a historian with the National Amusement Park Historical Association . `` In this Internet era , people are looking for something different to do , and a lot of amusement parks are able to capitalize on that , '' he said .

Attendance at U.S. theme parks increased by 59 million visitors from 2000 to 2013 , said David Mandt , a spokesman for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions .

The jump in attendance is positive news for an industry that historically goes through cycles of park closures . From 2004 to 2008 , amusement parks hit a slump with dozens of theme parks shutting their doors nationwide .

This includes several smaller theme parks that closed in the mid-2000s , including some that had survived a century , Futrell said . Ohio 's Geauga Lake and Pennsylvania 's Bushkill Park , were examples of this trend , Futrell wrote in a 2006 article for Funworld Magazine .

Those smaller theme park closures have left a void for some intrepid travelers who are looking for a more nostalgic amusement park experience .

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Jessica Georgia is one of those travelers who is always searching for a vintage or `` Old Americana '' place to explore . It 's what brought her and her family to the gates of Land of Oz , a relic theme park , sitting all alone on top of Beech Mountain in North Carolina . Georgia stumbled onto the theme park while doing an online search for interesting places to visit with her family . There was n't much information she could find on Land of Oz , except that it once operated in the 1970s before closing its doors .

What she did find online were photos of a real-life version of `` The Wizard of Oz . '' Its yellow bricks , steel gate and lush green trees sparked her curiosity .

She and her family visited the park in late May and found that the gates to the theme park were open , so they stepped inside . Georgia , her husband and daughter walked carefully down the yellow brick road . The path was still brightly colored after all these years , with a few bricks missing here and there .

`` I do n't think you are supposed to walk in the way we did , '' she said . `` The gates are there , there were the yellow bricks , and the shell of what used to be a castle . The Tin Man was also there , and the trees looked like they were looking at you . ''

Land of Oz may seem like an abandoned theme park , but it 's actually not . The amusement park is closed , and the space has been converted into vacation rental property . Visitors can rent out Dorothy 's house , which looks like an antique cottage , for two nights or more . Other parts of the park can also be rented for small events .

The theme park has n't been operational since the 1980s , when it first shut down . But the space went through a revival in the 1990s , according to Cynthia Keller , the property manager of Land of Oz and self-appointed `` Keeper of Oz . ''

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`` You get the grounds to yourself , and you can stroll the yellow brick road , '' Keller said . `` We have been doing vacation rentals for the last 20 years . ''

Spending the night in Dorothy 's home and waking up on top of a picturesque mountain is an experience that keeps the park 's rental calendar pretty much booked up , Keller said . Even those who are n't hardcore fans of the classic Technicolor movie enjoy spending time at the converted theme park .

`` We are n't crazy about ` The Wizard of Oz , ' but I definitely had some nostalgia walking through , '' Georgia said . `` I had a lot of childhood memories of watching that movie with my sister when we were little , and being able to pass that experience down to my daughter . It makes you want to be a kid again . ''

Hays says going to Joyland with his parents always felt like a treat , giving him a `` special feeling that is hard to recreate or describe once you have grown up . ''

Although Hays does n't have children yet , he hopes to share that same feeling with his own kids in the future . He plans on taking them to a theme park similar to Joyland .

`` There is something about local amusement parks , '' he said . `` When you go to Six Flags , I do n't think you have the same emotional connection to that park like a smaller theme park gives you . ''

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During the mid-2000s , several smaller U.S. theme parks closed their doors for good

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Nostalgic travelers are looking for a more intimate theme park experience

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Vintage theme parks like Land of Oz learned to adapt by offering nostalgia for visitors